Red Cross, Oxfam Warn of Cuts in Humanitarian Funding

Published November 23, 2008 @ 07:59PM PT

The impact of the global financial crisis is beginning to make itself felt, as humanitarian and development agencies warn of impending cuts.

According to an article in the Financial Times, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) "is considering cutting staff and shelving projects as it braces for recession-hit donors to slash aid contributions."

For its part, Oxfam is "planning to make cost savings of 10-15 per cent while shedding 5-7 per cent of its UK staff."

The article also provides a historical perspective - "During the 1990-1993 downturn, global aid spending fell by a quarter and did not recover to 1992 levels until 2003."

Earlier this month, the UN warned of possible cuts in foreign assistance of "up to a third or more".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon again echoed these concerns when announcing the launch of the UN's most recent humanitarian appeal last week: "The global financial crisis has raised inevitable concerns that there could be a decline in humanitarian funding for 2009. I urge member states and private donors not to let that happen."

The UN is appealing for seven billion dollars to fund humanitarian operations in 2009 - this is almost double the amount requested last year, in response to the rising food costs and escalating conflicts in countries such as Congo and Somalia.

According to the introduction to the Humanitarian Appeal for 2009:

"The $7 billion that aid agencies jointly seek can meet the most pressing needs of 30 million people in Central Africa Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Kenya, the occupied Palestinian territory, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, West Africa, and Zimbabwe. This may seem like a huge burden for donor countries, but in fact it translate, for every hundred dollars of the rich countries' national income, to just a few cents of aid - a few cents that can ensure the survival, protection, and well-being of the poorest and most vulnerable people in this world."

[Emphasis added thanks to UN Dispatch.]

Major recipients would include Sudan ($2.1 billion, including Darfur), Somalia ($919 million), Congo ($831 million), Zimbabwe ($550 million), Iraq and neighboring countries ($547 million), and the occupied Palestinain territories ($462 million).

For previous posts about the impact of the financial crisis on humanitarian funding, see here.

[Photo of women waiting to receive food aid in Ethiopia from the Daily Telegraph]

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Comments (2)

This might sound pointlessly controversial, but there are two questions that spring to mind:

1. Who's going to notice if these cuts take place? I'm not even sure it's safe to assume that beneficiaries will notice, particularly as the only source we have for that information is the agencies themselves - who have a vested interest in publicizing the cuts and no substantial metrics for measuring the impact of their work.

2. What if cuts in funding have a net positive effect? There's a general consensus that the NGO community is bloated, particularly at the bottom end, and a lot of people talk of consolidation in order to more effectively use existing resources - might these cuts spur some closures and mergers that will achieve exactly that.

I should point out that I'm not saying that the economic downturn is a good thing, or that these cuts are a good thing - undoubtedly there will be a negative impact, particularly for those national-level agency staff who lose their jobs. However the narrative being presented by the agencies in these news articles buys into the big narrative that - in terms of aid funding - more = better.

This is simply not true. We don't need more aid, we need more effective aid and more efficient aid. Until we start being honest about that, I'm not sure we deserve more money from the taxpayers of the world...

Posted by Paul Currion on 11/24/2008 @ 12:11AM PT
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Gates foundation cuts: http://petercasier.newsvine.com/_news/2008/11/22/2138466-gates-foundation-will-scale-back-grant-making-plans

Cuts in Oxfam, Care International and Worldvision in view of the economic crisis: http://petercasier.newsvine.com/_news/2008/10/27/2045291-humanitarian-organisations-start-to-lay-off-staff-in-face-of-the-economic-crisis

Posted by Peter Casier on 11/24/2008 @ 05:17AM PT
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Michael has worked for NGOs in Afghanistan, across east and central Africa, and Iraq. Prior to going overseas, he worked on a project providing assistance to the United Nations on the application of International Humanitarian Law to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.